Stardom USA Tour on October 18, 2015 (Partial) Review

Last fall, Stardom had two events that took place in the United States. I had intentions of going, and had tickets, but due to a work-related issue I was unable to make the trip. Luckily for all of us, the event was filmed and Stardom is selling both shows in one package. To make it easier to review, I will be reviewing each show individually, this is the second day of the tour. I reviewed the first event yesterday. If you are not an insane person like me that imports expensive DVDs from Japan, you can also purchases the matches individually from ClickWrestle. You can find most of the matches here: https://www.clickwrestle.com/v/stardom. Matches are $2.49 apiece so you can pick and choose the matches you want to watch.

Please note that I am reviewing the Stardom DVD, which clipped the matches on this show. I think ClickWrestle has the full matches, but since I didn’t want to buy the same match twice, I am still just reviewing the DVD. If a match on this event sounds entertaining I’d recommend getting the matches from ClickWrestle instead of getting the DVD.

The second event took place on October 18th, 2015 in Baldwin Park, CA. This must have been seen as the “B” show as only three of the matches were included on the Stardom DVD. There is one additional match on ClickWrestle, and I guess one match just got lost in the void forever as it was a five match card. Here are the three matches included on the DVD that I will be reviewing:

These were the top three matches and include most of my favorite wrestlers, so we should be fine. This event was only filmed by a ringside camera, no hard cam, so the action will be up close and personal throughout. Let’s get rolling.

(c) Melissa vs. Shayna Baszler

This match is for the GRPW Lady Luck Championship. Don’t feel too bad if you’ve never heard of this title, as it belongs to Gold Rush Pro Wrestling which is a smaller indy promotion based out of California. Melissa was their first women’s champion, and this is her first defense. Baszler is a MMA fighter turned professional wrestler, and this is the third professional match of her career.

They go straight into a Test of Strength, which Baszler obviously wins, and they trade holds on the mat before returning to their feet. Melissa tries to knock over Baszler with no luck and Baszler kicks Melissa around the ring. Baszler keeps on Melissa as she works on the arm, kick to the chest by Baszler and she covers Melissa for two. Cross armbreaker by Baszler but Melissa gets out of it and gets Baszler in the Kondo Clutch. Baszler reverses that into an ankle hold before going back to the arm, but Melissa gets back in control with a Samoan Drop. Melissa gets the Kondo Clutch re-applied with her foot on Baszler’s head, Baszler passes out from the pain and the referee stops the match! Melissa wins the match and retains the championship.

This was clipped, two or three minutes were missing from the match, which I am never a fan of. This was a solid mat-based match however, Baszler was very smooth with the transitions as I am sure her years of MMA training came in handy. Melissa won very suddenly but I do not know what was clipped, so it may have been a clipping issue rather than a match structure issue. Hard to recommend a match were 25% is missing, but what they showed was solid.

Kairi Hojo and Melina Perez vs. Hudson Envy and Mia Yim

Melina and Hojo may be my favorite tag team that we will never see again, just so much skill and adorable in the same place. Yim of course is currently working in TNA as Jade, and Envy is part of Oedo Tai in Stardom. No real build to this one, however Melina and Envy did square off on the first Stardom USA event.

No time for pleasantries as Melina and Hojo promptly dropkick their opponents and double team them in the corner. Envy kicks Melina low to regain the advantage and knocks her into the corner, but Melina moves when Envy charges in and hits a double knee drop in the corner. Yim helps Envy get back in control, and Envy works over Melina on the mat. Envy tags in Yim, and Yim suplexes Melina for a two count. Sleeper by Yim and she headbutts Melina, but Melina hits a jawbreaker and tags in Hojo. Yim beats on Hojo as soon as she gets in the ring before tagging in Envy. Envy and Yim hit a Chokebomb/Backstabber combination on Hojo, Tiger Driver by Envy but Melina breaks up the cover. Melina hits Envy with the Splits Legdrop, Yim tries to kick Melina but Melina ducks and she kicks Envy by accident. Melina drops Yim onto Envy, then Hojo goes up top and nails a diving elbow drop onto both of them! Cover by Hojo, and she picks up the three count! Hojo and Melina win the match.

This was clipped, pretty cleanly but still clipped nonetheless. The Chokebomb/Backstabber looked great as did all of Envy’s offense, and it is always a pleasure to see Melina. I am glad the live crowd got to see the diving elbow drop since Hojo did not do it on the first show, and I bet in full this match was a blast. Too snipped to get excited about but there was enough goodness shown that it is still worth a watch. Mildly Recommended

(c) Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater

This match is for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship. This match is shown in full! So that is happy news. These wrestlers are all familiar with each other and is the first ‘Stardom vs. Stardom’ match shown on the tour (Skater and Matsumoto aren’t official Stardom members but have had many matches in the promotion). It is also the final match on the Stardom USA Tour, so both teams should be psyched up. I love all four of these wrestlers and they have good chemistry, so this should be a good one.

Skater and Iwatani kicks things off, they some introductory moves back and forth but neither gets an advantage so they tag out. Matsumoto starts working on Shirai’s arm before shoulderblocking her to the mat. Shirai dropkicks Matsumoto, Iwatani comes in the ring and they double team Matsumoto in the corner. Skater runs in to help Matsumoto get back in control, Skater is tagged in as legal and she hits a jumping elbow in the corner. Skater clubs on Shirai and tags Matsumoto back in, Matsumoto chops Shirai in the corner and stomps her to the mat. Skater takes back over on Shirai but Shirai hits a missile dropkick and tags in Iwatani. Spinning headscissors by Iwatani and she hits a double springboard armdrag on both Matsumoto and Skater followed by a double dropkick. Skater regains control and drops Iwatani into the corner before making the hot tag to Matsumoto.

Body avalanche by Matsumoto and she knocks Iwatani out of the ring before then throwing Shirai onto Iwatani. Matsumoto then picks up Skater and throws her out of the ring also, down onto Iwatani and Shirai. Back in, Matsumoto hits a big backdrop suplex on Iwatani for a two count cover. Iwatani kicks Matsumoto in the head, Shirai and Skater are both tagged in and Shirai cartwheels away from Skater before hitting a dropkick. Skater kicks her back and hits a vertical suplex for a two count. Ankle hold by Skater, Matsumoto runs in and puts Iwatani in a backbreaker. Shirai gets to the ropes to force a break, double Irish whip by Skater and Matsumoto but they are both hit with hurricanranas. Tiger Feint Kick by Shirai to Skater followed by a swandive dropkick, but Matsumoto interrupts the pin. Iwatani kicks Matsumoto but Skater kicks her both Shirai knocks down Skater with a palm strike. Shirai and Skater get back up, and Shirai delivers a German suplex hold for a two count. Iwatani dives out of the ring onto Matsumoto, she then gets up top and with Shirai hits an assisted piledriver onto Skater. Shirai goes up top and nails the Moonsault onto Skater, and she picks up the three count! Shirai and Iwatani retain the championship!

This was the best match of the two day tour, hands down. It was just a really smooth and well done match, they kept the action up with really no downtime at all. While it won’t go down as a classic (having just one camera always hurts the action a bit, the poor cameraman had to haul ass once to not miss a move), the action was very crisp and the strikes all had impact. I freely admit that Skater is one of my favorite wrestlers and she spent a good bit of the match in the ring, and they did a few dives to spice things up. Overall just a really entertaining match and a great way to end the tour. Recommended

Final Thoughts

Since I reviewed the clipped DVD version, this didn't have the same impact as it would have if I was there live or saw the whole show, but at least everything they showed was entertaining. Baszler continues to look more comfortable in the ring than some multi-year pros, and the few minutes we saw of the middle tag match was lots of fun. The main event was excellent, with four wrestlers that can really go and didn't hold anything back for the American crowd. It would be better with the full event, but since this was packaged with the Day 1 show I have no real complaints.